"Hermes Trismegistus

There is considerable doubt as to when works of Hermes Trismegistus were written, but it is certain that no one person by that name ever existed. The name means Hermes thrice-greatest, Hermes being Greek God of spoken word - 'logos' - identified with Mercury, winged messenger God of Romans, and with Thoth, Egyptian God of writing, itself a magical activity not understood by common man {Emphasis added.}.(Note that Mercury - both astrological planet and liquid metal - was of supreme importance in alchemy.) Thoth was historian, and creator of all-important calendar by which not only history, but movement of Sun, Moon and stars could be measured. {Marshack is a well-respected authority and has proven a 15-30,000+ year old calendar of great precision existed in Iberian region of Portugal.} As scribe of Gods Thoth was custodian of all knowledge. Knowledge is power; knowledge known only to few is even more so. Under intermingling of philosophers and religious scholars of different cultures {Read propagandists or myth-makers}, Thoth/Hermes became God of esoteric knowledge and power. A priest, philosopher or magician whose works were ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, was human amanuensis of Gods.

Whoever or how many people 'he' was {If Moses, then it would have involved his sister Mariae, who has alchemic treatises intact and credited to her, it might mean 'he' is a 'she'.}, Hermes Trismegistus was author of what became known as Hermetic texts, or 'Corpus Hermeticum', a vast amount of writing on esoteric religion. (The complete 'Corpus Hermeticum' in English translation fills three large volumes.) {We will see more factual reference to thirteen.}

It was thought at one time that Hermes Trismegistus lived at around time of Pythagoras, or perhaps of Moses; references in Hermetic texts to teachings of Jesus {Iesa would have been original name in another language. Jesus of Nazareth was named after this concept of sun [son] and 'Brotherhood of Man'.} were believed to be prophetic foreshadowings of these great truths. {If Jesus studied to find discipline and truth 'within' 'the living father' so should everyone. Thus idea of an easy and accessible, by 'special dispensations’ and confessions type of 'Salvation' would not have such credibility or market acceptance. Pardon my coarse use of business terms to apply to effort of these 'religious scholars' who like to be thought of as having 'Divine Inspiration'.} Later scholarship, however, has shown that 'Corpus Hermeticum' was written sometime in first five centuries AD, largely in Egypt, as a fusion of Greek and Egyptian esoteric teachings.

{But Michael Grant, in his well-respected 'The Rise of Greeks' makes note that cult of Thoth/Hermes and its equivalent 'Imhotep/Asklepios' was main intellectual belief during time of Pythagoras. Others know Pythagoras as a Therapeutae ['Dead Sea Scrolls Deception' by Baigent and Leigh, as well as Rabbis galore.] which is origin of Essenes that Gardner tells us are an outgrowth of 'The Great White (not racial) Brotherhood of Master Craftsmen'. The real answer is far more ancient, as we shall see, but for now it is important for you to know these things at a minimum, in order to judge what is being said.}

The Hermetic texts were known to Islamic scholars in medieval times, but it did not come to attention of West until they were translated into Latin in 1471 {There are others who even dispute this date. How did Albertus, Aquinas and Bacon get their knowledge? etc.} by Italian Marsilio Ficino. The texts included works on religion, philosophy, magic, medicine, alchemy and astrology, all of which were closely linked. They include among many others 'Emerald Tablet', or 'Tabula Smaragdina', which begins with saying usually shortened to 'As Above, so below', {There is a great book of recent date by this name in New Age bookstores. Barrett uses Dictum of Hermes Trismegistus on his back cover flap as it is taken from Macoy's 'General History, Cyclopedia and Dictionary of Freemasonry', 1850.} and which discusses Philosopher's Stone; 'Poimandres', 'The Good Shepherd', a Gnostic text about infinite light of God, and man's journey to enlightenment, and 'Perfect Sermon of Asclepius {A variant of Asklepios which was mentioned before.} which speaks of divine Unity above a hierarchy of spiritual beings, and of man, who possesses both body an spirit, having a divine nature." (2)

Thus you see 'living father within' that Jesus taught about; and even Barrett admits 'Source' of teaching of Jesus is Grail which has a lot to do with Dag (or Nag) Hammadi 'finds’. These were deciphered from Coptic in 1971 and I highly recommend 'The Gospel of Thomas'. So 'churchians' in hot pursuit of this knowledge Gnostics hid in protective urns when they were defending Alexandria's Library through four attacks, also wanted to keep people 'ignorant'. Jesus did not! The Cathars were later genocidally dealt with in a Crusade. This IS serious business, and it was not long ago that anyone speaking such things would be victim of 'Blasphemy Laws' (ended in 1951 in England) or worse. I can attest to major problems in my own life despite our apparent freedoms; but this is not forum for such digressions.

By Joey Lewitin

Marble is one of most sophisticated of stones. It is generally smooth and polished, although it can come in a rough texture. Its use historically is very widespread in both art and architecture.

Formation

Marble is a kind of limestone that has undergone a process which has made structure of rock more solid. This process allows stone to take a high polish. This stone is generally formed when limestone is faced with extremes of pressure or temperature that cause it to undergo a process known as metamorphism. When Metamorphism occurs structure of limestone becomes crystal in nature, transforming into calcite or dolomite. These two substances are main materials in marble. The crystal is a very strong molecular form and result of this is a stronger, highly polish-able stone, with unique coloring characteristics often known as Marbling.